Patch-applying mechanism for window envelopes



4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR 660! 49.2%;

BY Y4 ATTORNEY Nov. 20, 1923.

C. 0., EKVALL PATCH APPLYING MECHANISM FOR WINDOW ENVELOPES Filed Dec.5, 1921 M T i Z w Z! w 1 5 1 W9 0 M m 5 6 .5 5

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Nov. 20 1923. 11,474,832

c. o. EKVALL PATCH APPLYING MECHANISM FOR WINDOW ENVELOPES Filed Dec. 5,1921 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 g INVENTOR (82 8 @arl 01M W 9 ATTORNEY Nov. 201923. 11,474,832

v c. o. EKVALL PATCH APPLYING MECHANISM FOR WINDOW ENVELOPES Filed Dec.5, 1921 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR Nov. 20,1923. 1,474,832

I c. 0 EKVALL.

PATCH APPLYING MECHANISM FOR WINDOW ENVELOPES F le 1921 4 Sheets-Sheet 4INVENTOR Patented Nov, 2a 1923. intense CARL O. EKVALL, OF NEW YORK, N.Y.

PATCH-APPLYING MECHANISM FOR WINDOW ENVELOPES.

Application filed December 3, 1821. Serial No. 519,723. To (ZZZ whom itmay concern: 5 of Figure d looking in the direction of Be it known thatI, CARL (l. EKVALL, a the arrows and also showing the blankcitizen ofthe United States, and a resident creasing plate and the folding bed. ofthe city of New York, borough of Brook- Figure is a view of the underside of the 5 lyn, county of Kings, and State of New creasing plungerand the patch carrier.

York have invented a certain and useful Figure '7 is a plan view of anenvelope Improvement in Patch-Applying Mecha-- blank, and nism torWindow Envelopes, of which the Figures 8, 9, l0 and 11 are diagrammaticfollowing is a specification. views showing the method oi operation ofThis invention relates to a machine for the creasing plunger andpatch-applying manufacturing the well known type of enmember. velopeknown as the outlook or window Throughout the various views of theenvelope, wherein an opening is formed in drawing, similar referencecharacters desig the body of the envelope blank and a strip nate similarparts.

of thin, transparent paper or like material In the embodiment of myinvention as I is secured over the opening so that the adhave shown itherein, 1 have not embodied dress, which isplaced on the enclosure intherein many features of construction pesuch a manner as to registerwith the openculiar to machines for making envelopes, ing, can readilybe seen through the transthey are well understood and need no speparentstrip placed over the opening. ciiic description here for the purpose ofThis machine relates to the means for apmaking my invention clear.plying the thin transparent strips to the A pile of blanks indicated at1 in Figure ellVQlOpe blanks and over the opening there- 1 placed upon asuitable support 2. in and the object of this invention is to Above thisis a trame 3 provided with bearsimplify the mechanism for applying saidings iin which a rod 5 is vertically restrips and to produce apatch-applying ciprocated. This rod 5 is verticallyrecipromechanismwhich will work with great cated by a series of levers,the inner lever speed and to eliminate various objection 6 beingtulcrumed to an upright portion 7 able features found in presentmachines of the frame and the opposite end of said my this character.lever 6 is pivotally connected to a link 8 These and other objects areaccomplished secured to the rod 5 by means of a clamp S). 5

by my invention, a more particular de- Mechanism is secured to thelevers operscription of which will appear below. ated by a cam or otherdesired means (not Reference is to be had to the accompanyshown) formoving the levers so as to give ing drawing forming part hereof inwhichthe rod 5 vertical reciprocation,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the portion The rod 5 carries a head 10.To this head or my improved machine for gumming the are pendantlysecured three gumming dies, envelope blanks, and also showing the ll, 12and 13. These dies are each conplunger mechanism and patch carrier,por-- formed in shape to the line of gum which a ti 5 of the same beingshown in section. is to be applied to the blank and the lower ure 2 is'aplan view of the machine, edges of each of these dies are provii'led g5portions oi the same being shown in section. with rubber strips 14: soas to give an even 1 g, 3 is a view of the portions of the impression ofthe gum on the blank. The machine used for removing patches from thedies 11 and 1.3 are employed for the purposev 45 pile and transportingthe same successively of applying the gum to the upper and lower to thepatch carrier which applies them to flaps oi the envelope blanks and thedie 12 the envelope blanks. is so shaped that it will apply the gumFigure 4 is a plan view of the blankaround the opening 15 previouslyformed in creasing plunger and the patch carrier, the blank such shownin Figure 7.

' parts of the same being shown in section, Summing rollers 16 which aremoved back the section being taken on the line 66 of and forward belowthe gumming dies to ap i i' urc 5 looking in the direction of the plygum thereto, are mounted on a shaft arrows. 17 located underneath thegumming dies 11 Figure 5 is a sectional view on the line '12 and 13, theshaft 17 being supported to rotate in bearings 18 which hearings arearranged to slide on the rods 19. The gumming rollers 16 are drawn backand forth below the dies by suitable cam mechanism, connected to theshaft 17 by the arms 98 and links 99.

Located below the gumming dies 11, 12 and 13 and also below the gummingrollers 16 is a stripper plate 21 shown in plan in Figure 2. This plateis provided with apertures 22 suitably formed and conforming to theshape of the gumming dies, The under surface of the stripper plate ispro vided, adj acentto the edges of the apertures, with the stripperflanges 23 which aid in the stripping or removal of the gummed blanksfrom the gumming dies 11, 12 and 13. These dies 11, 12 and 13 on theirdownward movement pass through the apertures 22 in the stripper plate 21and place gum on the edges of the flaps 24: and 25 of the envelope blankand adjacent the edges of the opening 15 in the blank as shown in Figure 7.

The blank adheres to these dies 11, 12 and 13 and is carried upward onthe return or upward movement of said dies and on such upwardmovementthe blank is brought into contact with the stripper plate 21 whicharrests its further upward movement and frees it from the gumming dies.The flanges 23 act as knife edges to more effectively produce thisseparation. As the blank is stripped from the gumming dies, it dropsdown upon a carrier. This carrier consists of two arms 26 having attheir ends gripping hooks 27. These arms which form the blank carrierfor carrying the gummed blank, are adapted to slide or reciprocate inguide ways 28 formed in arms 29 on a plate 30 which latter plateconstitutes the upper horizontal portion of the frame known as theblank-creasing frame. The arms 26 are connected to ether bv a rod 31which b in turn carries a link 32 and the link 32 is connected by alever 33 to suitable cam mechanism adapted to glve the arms 26 a reciprocating movement to carry the gummedblank to a position to becreased and receive the application of the patch as will be hereinafterset forth.v

The horizontal plate 30 is provided with an aperture 34; through whichblanks arc thrust by a creasing plunger, This aperture is bounded byfront and rear cross plates and by two sides plates 36.

The frame 3 is provided with guides 37 which guides carry a rod 38. Thisrod 38 is given an up and down or reciprocating movement properly timedwith. respect to the reciprocating movements of the rod 5 (Figure 1) andthe movements of the car rier frame formed of the arms 26, to the endthat the movement of the envelope blank from the completion of thegumming operation to the inception of the folding operation will becontinuous and the application of the patch to the blank will )s hadwithout any interruption of that movement.

The rod 38 carries a projection 39 to which is pivoted a link 40, saidlink being pivoted to a lever 41 leading'to an appropriate part of themachine which, through its operationv will raise and lower the rod 38 insynchronism with the other movements heretofore described.

Secured to the lower end of the rod 38 the creasing plunger 13. Theplunger l -3, which forms part of the blank-creasing mechanism, shown insection in Figures 8 to 11 inclusive which figures show the varioussteps in the folding and patch-applyingoperation. l

A plan view of the plunger is shown in Figure at. The plunger consistsof a fiat rectangular plate secured to the lower end of the rod 38 inboss at which is secured to the plunger by screws 45. The plunger isprovided on its under face with shallow elongated recess 16 whichextends longitudinally of the plunger. The plunger is also provid ;lwith an opening 457 extending throughit, and through this opening thepatch-applying member 48 is adapted to be moved after it has applied apatch as will be hereinafter set forth.

The patch-ap iilying' member i8 acts as a patch carrier for singlesuccessive patches and transports the same to the point where they areapplied, as will be set forth herein.- after. The patch-applying memberconsists of a hollow plate having an interior chamber 50 and a pluralityof ports 51 leading from said chamber to the under face of thepatch-applying member. The patch applying member 18 corresponds inoutline to the opening; 1 in the creasing plunger so that thepatch-applying member can lie in said openingduringvthe application ofthe patch to the blank, and is movable therethrough after theapplication of the patch. it 52 is shown an integral lateral extensionon the patch-applying member and on said extension a boss 53in which issecured tubular rod 5 1 which extends upwardly and is movable throughthe guides 37in the frame 3; In order to reciprocate the patchapplyingmember, the tubular rod 54 is connected to a link '35. which ispivotally con nected-to an arm 56 on a bell crank lever pivoted on ashaft 57 secured on the machine. The other arm 58 of thebell-cranlrlever is connected at its end to a rod 59 which extends to suitable cammechanism which acts, through the medium of the mechanism justdescribed, to vertically reciprocate the patch-applying member.

The rod 54: being tubular provides a con- 'tinuous air-passage 60through which suction is exerted, said suction being caused by a pump orthe like (not shown) which is connected to the rod 54 by a flexibletube. a portion or" which is disclosed at 61 in Figure 1 such connectionin no we 7 interfering with the reciprocating movement of thepatchapplying member.

The initial or raised position of the patchapplying member 48 and thecreasing plunger is disclosed in Figure l which indicates the relationof the parts at their highest point of ascent wit-h the patclnapplyingmember extending below the creasing plunger and in position to receiveand retain a patch on its under face by suction exerted through it.

. The means for supplying successive single patches to thepatch-applying member will now be described.

At 62 is the p tch table or support which receives and holds a pile 63of the thin, transparent patches within a cage 64 secured on the table.The cage 64 is provided with an upright 65 in which is pivoted a tubularpicker rod 66 having a laterally bent end 67 provided with a pair ofdownwardly extending nipples 68 through which suction is exerted to liftsuccessive patches from the pile 63. As shown in Figure 2 the laterallybent end of the picker 66 extends crosswise of the patches and islocated adjacent one end of the same and near a patch gripper composedof parts 73 and 74 which supply the successive patches to thepatch-applying member 48.

The rear end of the picker 66 is supported on a grooved pulley 69 whichis slidably mounted on a shaft 70. This shaft is secured to and extendsfrom one end of a rocker arm =71, which rocker arm is pivoted in abracket 72 secured to a part of the machine.

The outer end of the rocker arm is connected to suitable operatingmechanism to the end that when said outer end of the rocker arm ismoved, the lateral end 67 of the picker 66 will be tilted downward torest the uppermost patch in the pile. Through suitable mechanism notshown suction is exerted through the tubular picker 66 to cause theuppermost patch to adhere the nipples 68 on its lateral end 67. Theis-fleral end of the tubular picker 66 is then titted and it raises oneend of the uppernicst patch 86 as disclosed in Figure 3. when said patchis grasped by a pair of gripping ringers "[3 and 74 and brought to thepatchapply g member 48 for application to a blank.

flu its way to the patch-applying member $18 the patch is aligned bymovement through pairs of aligning guides 75. The ippers are mounted onan arm 76 which secured on a sleeve 77 slidable on a rod The extendingacross the machine.

.meuns for sliding said sleeve backward and the forward on the rod 78comprisesa link 9 connected at its end to a lever actuated by suitablecam mechanism not shown.

The opening and closing of the gri pers T3 and 74 is effected by meansof a tripper member 81 having a roller 82 mounted on its free end, and adog 83. At 84 is a stop secured on a bracket 85, and said stop isadapted to contact with the dog 83 to per mit the grippers to close on alifted patch 86, such closing of the gripper-s being effected by spring87 which brings the movable gripper 73 down on the stationary gripper'74 so that they grip the patch 86. between them. The grippers which arethen holding the patch move across the machine until they reach a pointwith the patch held below the patch-applying member 48. Suction beingexert-ed through, the patch-applying member causes the patch to adhereto the under surface of said member and the grippers open leaving thepatch on the under surface of said patch applying member and ready forapplication to the blank. The opening of the grippers to release thepatch at this point is effected by means of a projection 88 whichstrikes against the roller 82 and separates the grippers. The opengrippers are then carried back to receive a new patch and the creasingplunger 43 and patch-applying member with its attached patch descend toapply the patch to the blank as will now be described.

ln the drawings Figures 8 to 11 indicate the various steps in theoperation of applying the patch to the blank and the positions of thecreasing plunger and patch-applying member. In Figure 8 a patch 86 isshown attached to the patch-applying member 48 by suction exertedthrough said patch-applying member. A gummed blank 89 is shown restingupon the creasing plate and the creasing plunger is descending.

in Figure 9 the creasing plunger 43 is shown contacting with the blank89 and beginning to force the same through the opening 34 in thecreasing plate to crease the blank. At this point it will be seen thatpatch-applying member is located ithin the opening 47 in the creasingplunger and said patch-applying member and creasing plunger are movingdownward at the same speed. The patch-applying membcr holds: itsattached patch 86 within the recess 46 in said plunger and away from thesurface of the blank. The creasing plunger 4 and the patch-applyingmember 48 continue to move downward together at a uniform rate of speed,the creasing plunger forcing the blank 89 down towards the folding bed90 with the patch-applying member at no time coming into contact withthe blank and holding its attached patch 86 away from the same. As theblank nears the folding bed" 90 and reaches the dis closed position inFigure 10, the current of air in the patch-applying member -i8 isreversed and forms a blast of air which blows the patch 86 off from theunder face of the patch-applying member and onto the blank. Thisconstitutes the lowest point of descent of the patch-applying member 8and it then begins its upward movement vhilethe creasing plunger ibcontinues downward forcing the blank with its attached patch down on thefolding bed 90. Thereafter the creasing plunger moves upward causing thepatch-applying member to pass through its opening-e7 so that thecreasing plunger 43 removes to the initial position of the devicedisclosed in Figures 1 and 8 with the patch-applying member 4.8 inposition to receive a new patch. The patchedblank remains on the foldingbed where it is acted upon by a mechanism which} folds down its flapsand produces the con'ipleted envelope. This cycle of operation isrepeated as long as the machine is in operation.

It will be noted that the patch applying member at no time contacts withthe blank and consequently does not press the patch 86 upon the blank asis done in many of the present forms of machine but rather blows thesame thereon by an air blast. This form of machine is speedy inoperation, prevents the patches from sticking to the patch-applyingmember and as the patchipplyin'g member is at no time brought intocontact with the blank, the possibility of gum reaching the under faceof the patch-applying member is avoided.

From the foregoing it is obvious that my invention is not to berestricted to the exact embodiment shown but is broad enough to coverall structures coming within the scope of the annexed claims.

That I claim is:

1. in a machine of the class described, a blankcreasing plate,'a foldingbed, an apertured creasing plunger adapted to move a blank through saidcreasing plate down to the folding bed, a patch-applying member adaptedto receive a.- patch below the creasing plunger when said plunger is inits raised position, means for moving said patch-applying memberdownward while the same is located in the aperture in the creasingplunger, means for causing a patch to be applied to a blank while thesame is beingmoved by the creasing plunger and means for terminating themovement of the patch applying'member at a distance from the foldingbed, while saidclreasing plunger thereafter continues its movement ofthe patch blank to the folding bed.

2. In amachine of the class described, a blank creasing plate, a foldingbed, an apertured creasing plunger, an independently lama movablepatch-applying member adapted to receive a patch at a point below thecreasing plunger when said plunger is in its raised position, means formoving said plun ger and patch applying member towards the Iolding bedwith the patch-applying mem I the patched blank down to the fo'ldingbed.

3. In a machine of the class described, a reciprocating plungerhaving'an opening, a creasing plate through which a blank forced by saidplunger, a bed plate below said creasing plunger, means forreciprocating said plunger to cause the same to force a blank throughthe creasingplate and down to the bed plate and a patch-applying memberadapted to receive a patch at, a point below the creasing plunger andadapted to lie within the opening; the creasing plunger and apply apatch to the blank at a point intermediate of the creasing plate andthebed plate. 7 V j 41:. In a machine of the class described, a reci'irocating blank-creasing plunger, a base to which a blank is forced bythe plunger said plunger having an opening extending through it, a.reciprocating patch-applying member adapted to receive a patch below theplunger and lie'within V said opening during downward movement ofsaid'plunger and the patch-applying member and adapted to apply a patchto a blank during such downward movement and before the blank reachesthe base.

5. In a machine of the class described, a creasing plate, a movableplunger having a recess, an opening passing through that portion of theplunger in which the recess located and a patch applying member adaptedto receive successive 3t1llChS at a point below the plungerand fitwithin said opening and hold a patch within said recess.

6. In machine of the class described,

the patch-applying member to apply apatch V to a blank at a point oftermination of downward movement of the patch-applying mem her whilesaid blank is being moved downwardly towards the bed-plate.

7 In a. machine of the class described a creasing plate and a bed plate,a creasing plunger for forcing a blank" through the creasing plate andtowards the bed-glate, said creasing plunger having an opening,

and a patch-applying member movable through said opening and adapted tolie with the opening during movement of the blank towards the bed-plateand adapted. to apply a patch during such movement, saidpatirh-zqiplying member terminating its movement toward the bed plate ata distance from said bed plate.

8. In a machine of the class described an apertured plunger adapted toforce an envelope blanl: down to folding means and an independentlymovable patch-applying member having its limit of downward movementterminating at a point above and away from said folding means andadapted to lie within said plunger and apply a patch to the blank duringits movement towards the folding means.

Signed at the city, county and State of New York this 1st day ofDecember, 1921.

CARL O. EKVALL.

